Padres’ Dylan Cease and bullpen silence Red Sox’ offense, Brayan Bello tagged for five runs in 6-2 loss

If the Red Sox are going to play in October, it’s going to be important that they get key contributions from their starting pitching the rest of the way.

Brayan Bello had arguably his worst start in the past two months, allowing five runs on six hits with three walks and striking out seven in the Red Sox’ 6-2 series loss to the Padres on Sunday afternoon.

Bello’s inconsistent outing comes on the heels of Lucas Giolito walking six batters on Saturday night, including four consecutive hitters with two outs in the fifth inning that led to a loss.

Two games aren’t going to dictate the rest of the regular season, but these last two games offered a glimpse at what the Sox will look like if their starting pitching goes sideways. Boston’s rotation has done its job in the last handful of weeks and is a massive reason why the Sox are just four games behind the Blue Jays for first place in the AL East and holding on to the second AL wild-card spot.

In the third inning, Bello quickly set down the first two Padres he faced, striking out Ramón Laureano and getting Jake Cronenworth to strike out on a foul tip. Unfortunately for Bello, he was unable to put away San Diego, and they plated two runs off the right-hander with two outs. Freddy Fermin, whom the Padres acquired from the Royals at the trade deadline, singled to center, and then Bello plunked the next batter, Fernando Tatis Jr. Three-time batting champion Luis Arraez made Bello pay, doubling into center field and scoring Fermin and Tatis Jr., giving San Diego a 2-0 lead.

Jarren Durantook a funny route to the Arraez double, and it rolled all the way to the wall.

The Padres tacked on another run in the fifth inning. Cronenworth led off the frame, doubling to left field, and later scored on a Tatis Jr. single to left field, making it 3-0. In the sixth inning, San Diego added another run after Manny Machado singled to center field. He would score after an old friend, Xander Bogaerts, singled into left field, making it 4-0. With Bogaerts on first, Bello walked back-to-back batters in Jackson Merrill and Laureano. Chris Murphy was the first to get the call from the bullpen, and he immediately walked in a run, making it 5-0.

It was the second straight night that a Red Sox pitcher walked in a run.

Despite giving up five earned runs, Alex Bregman thought Bello’s changeup looked sharp in the loss.

“I thought his changeup might have been the best (changeup) I’ve seen him have,” Bregman told reporters following the game.

Six of his 13 swings and misses came on his changeup on Sunday afternoon. Even though he was able to induce swing and miss, Bello rarely used the pitch, throwing it only 12% of the time, according to Baseball Savant.

“We also used it against righties, and it was very effective against righties,” Bello said through translator Carlos Villoria Benítez. “So hopefully the usage will go up. Probably the same as the cutter and slider. So we’ll see.” 

Dylan Cease managed to keep the Red Sox lineup under control throughout the afternoon. The 29-year-old skillfully navigated through the Red Sox lineup, allowing just two runs on four hits and striking out seven. It was the first time in his last six outings he pitched into the seventh inning.

Cease saw his four-seam fastball reach 99 mph; his slider was a menace, earning him 11 swings and misses. With his sinker and knuckle curve, the third and fourth pitches in his repertoire, he was able to get swings and misses and called strikes with them throughout the game.

The righty was in cruise control, tossing six scoreless frames before running into trouble in the seventh inning. He walked Duran on five pitches, and then Trevor Story reached to give the Sox two base runners with no outs.

“The slider was the game changer,” Alex Cora told reporters in San Diego postgame. “We put in some good at-bats later on, but early in the game he was dominant.”

San Diego opted to go to their bullpen, which is one of the best in all of baseball. Jason Adam replaced Cease, and he hit Masataka Yoshida with a 93.1 mph four-seam fastball with the first pitch. Boston had a chance to do damage and made the Padres quickly pay when Romy Gonzalez smoked a ball to Bogaerts that was misplayed, and two runs scored, making it 5-2. The Sox failed to do anything else against Adam, who set down the next two hitters in order, and then southpaw Adrian Morejon struck out Roman Anthony swinging on a nasty 98.5 mph sinker down and in.

“We didn’t put the ball in play,” Cora said. “Ceddanne got a good pitch to hit the first one, and he was a little bit early and hit it foul. Toro fought the at-bat, a backdoor slider to get him, and then they put in the lefty. The kid had a good at-bat, but we weren’t able to put the ball in play before two outs, and we didn’t score.”

Cease, who will become a free agent at the end of the year, was a trade target for the Red Sox ahead of the deadline. San Diego reportedly offered the righty and catching prospect Ethan Salas and another minor leaguer for Duran, which the Sox rejected, according to MassLive.

The Padres added another run in the seventh on a Ryan O’Hearn sac fly to make it 6-2.

The Red Sox have lost consecutive games for the first time since dropping the first two of the series to the Phillies roughly three weeks ago. The Sox also dropped behind the Mariners for the top AL wild-card spot and are four games behind the Blue Jays for first place in the AL East.

Boston will hop on a flight and head to Houston and play the Astros beginning on Monday night. The last time these two teams met, the Sox swept them in three games at Fenway Park. Garrett Crochet (13-4, 2.24) will look to play the role of stopper and end the current losing skid. The Astros will counter with Cristian Javier, who will be making his 2025 season debut, coming off Tommy John surgery.

The first pitch on Monday is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET.